Sorry Never Seems Enough
by Tigerlily06
Summary: Takes place after Three Way. Calleigh goes to Horatio and apologizes for not doing her job properly and letting him down. Contains spoilers for the ep and S4.


Fandom: CSI:Miami  
Characters: Horatio Caine and Calleigh Duquesne  
Prompt: 097 Writer's Choice (Apology)  
Word Count: 790  
Title: Sorry Never Seems Enough  
Summary: Takes place after **_Three Way_**. Calleigh goes to Horatio to apologize for not doing her job properly and letting him down.  
Author's Notes: Spoilers for the S4 ep **_Three Way_**. This is a birthday pressie for **jeremybrettfan**. Hope it wasa good one!

Horatio Caine let out a tiny sigh of relief as he heard the door to his office click shut. He didn't care for the redesign of his office that had come with the new grant money, but beggars couldn't be choosers. He was a private person and the openness of the new design made him feel exposed when he was in there for any length of time.

He had finished up a week's worth of paperwork. He just wanted to go home and relax. It had been a very tiring week with what Burton had revealed to him about a possible mole being in the lab, and then there was how his team had handled the Diaz case.

The case had been solved, but barely and that didn't bear thinking about.

He was worried that the surprise inspection was going to discover more flaws than he cared to know about. With Calleigh out of the Ballistics lab, Eric and Ryan still snipping at one another and Stetler hovering around waiting for any misstep; Horatio was quietly surprised that the lab solve rate hadn't suffered in recent months.

He knew he had himself to blame for a good bit of the nonsense. He had been away from the lab trying to track down what really happened to Raymond and keeping an eye on Yelina, as well as hiding from Speed's death.

He missed Speed as did everyone in the lab. And the young man would have given them all hell for letting things go like they had.

&/&/&

"Excuse me, Lieutenant," said a young voice behind him, pulling him from his thoughts.

Horatio turned and saw one of the high school interns standing near him nervously clasping a clipboard. He smiled. "What can I do for you, Vicki?" he inquired.

"Dr. Woods needed you to sign off on the Ramirez case, sir," Vicki explained, holding out the clipboard.

Horatio accepted the clipboard. He quickly scanned Alexx's report and signed it. He handed the clipboard back. "Do you have any plans for the weekend?"

"Me and some friends are going to the Maroon 5 concert," Vicki answered in a hushed voice.

"Have a good time."

"I will... and... thank you," Vicki stammered before scurrying away.

&/&/&

"You have the most amazing effect on people, Handsome," Calleigh observed with a warm smile.

"Oh?" Horatio regarded her with a quizzical expression. One eyebrow raised in query. They stood at the top of the stairs that led to the first level of the lab.

"Vicki has been crushing on you ever since she started last month."

"Hmmm. Mmmm..."

Calleigh laughed in bemusement and it sounded like music to Horatio's tired ears.

"Was there something you needed, Calleigh?"

"Actually there is," she said in a serious tone. "Could we talk in your office?"

"Certainly."

&/&/&

Horatio leaned on his desk with his arms folded against his chest. He patiently waited for Calleigh to explain what she needed. He could tell something was bothering her and had a feeling it had to do with the Diaz case.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry," Calleigh began. She was nervously perched on the edge of a chair; poised between fight or flight.

"About?"

"As senior CSI I should have taken the lead on the Diaz case and not let it spiral out of control like it did."

Horatio bit his bottom lip. He didn't know what to say to that. He knew Calleigh was correct, but the Diaz case had been solved. "I think we all learned something from that case," he managed to say after a few tense moments.

"Yes," Calleigh agreed. "But, I let you down and I'm sorry."

"C'mere," he said gently, holding out a hand.

Calleigh took it and let Horatio pull her into a hug. It felt good to be held and comforted.

"It's been a rough few months," he murmured into her hair. "So don't beat yourself up so much."

"Okay," she whispered as she pulled away.

&/&/&

"So what are you doing for the evening, Horatio?" Calleigh inquired as they strode down the steps to the first level of the lab.

"The usual, I guess," he replied with a wry grin.

"How about a home cooked meal?"

"What do you have in mind?" he inquired as he toyed with his sunglasses.

"Alexx gave me a new recipe for baked chicken," Calleigh replied with a wicked grin.

Horatio chuckled. "Lead on, Gorgeous. Lead on."

The End


End file.
